


Electric Love - (A Dead Poets Society fan fiction)

by Brunette_icing



Category: Dead Poets Society (1989)
Genre: Angst, Charlie Dalton is a bit of a dick, F/M, Fluff, Knox is sweet, Multi, Romance, Slow Burn, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:12:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27841291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brunette_icing/pseuds/Brunette_icing
Summary: '𝔸 𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕠-𝕒𝕟𝕕-𝕛𝕦𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕥 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕙𝕪 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪, 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘. 𝕙𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕗𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕪...'Charlie Dalton. Filthy rich, charming and taken, meets the girl of his dreams in his trip to Greece in the Summer of 1959. Ophelia Avery was the one for him, but after his trip ends he has to leave, but who says that this was the end for Charlie and Ophelia? Certainly not luck.
Relationships: Charlie Dalton/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

Summer flings are said to be temporary and always doomed to crumble once the weather turns bitter and reality seeps in. At least, this is what Charlie reminded himself every second of the day.   
The summer of 1959 in Greece was the year Charlie realized he lost the girl of his deepest desires. Ophelia was flawless except for the slight crooked incisor on the top right; a slight imperfection that further enhanced the illusion of her perfection. Endless nights were spent on the sand dunes of beaches, walking through the coliseums of ancient cream temples in the sticky heat whilst discussing philosophies of life and her quoting lines from Shakespeare.   
He would hold her hand with its pink painted nails and stroll around the place with her with a big ridiculous smirk on his face.  
She was his and he was hers.   
They would sit on the cool sand and utter words for countless hours until the rays of sunlight began flirting with the blue summer sky. Charlie never failed to grin at her dorky nature of getting into this state of passion whilst talking about literature, particularly when she quoted Sonnet 18 by Shakespeare. Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? It was a popular poem which she never failed to discuss its brilliancy and sheer beauty. Her silver eyes would crinkle in the corners as she laughed at his idiocy for not knowing who Jane Austen is and his assumptions of her being a horror author.   
Those were the hours Charlie truly felt like himself. He didn’t have to pretend to be the pretentious son his parents forced him to be, nor the joker his friends expected; he was himself and he was happy.  
But just like the weather, their relationship began to fade away like the leaves of a tree, to await another summer of promised romance.  
Ophelia was moving to America, Charlie’s home country, and was starting a new school. Meeting again was rare, and they tried to maintain contact through letters, but they were one sided. Charlie forgot to respond due to his time being spent on someone else.   
That person was Chris, his newfound girlfriend. She was a girl his father ‘suggested’ he dated for the sake of his father becoming chummier with his boss, who happened to be Chris’ father.   
Chris was perfect in all respects, but she wasn’t Ophelia and she never would be. She was like post mix lemonade whereas Ophelia was a can of dandelion burdock. Sadly, Charlie couldn’t have Ophelia and so under the forceful guidance of his father he chose to settle down and be Chris’s boyfriend. Chris was euphoric—she’d dreamed of dating Charlie since they’d met in kindergarten.  
Chris attended Henley Academy for girls, the sister school of Welton Academy. It was a school solely dedicated towards the achievement and unity of young ladies. But in Charlie’s opinion, the school was filled with girls brimming with energy and constant need for alcohol, which the boys of their neighbouring school were always happy to supply.   
With a twirl of his pen, Charlie snapped out of his rendezvous and focused on the cheeky sketches of female anatomy of the loose leaflets of his chemistry page. Mr. Smith was droning on about the molecular mass of the lanthanides whilst Charlie fought his hardest to not fall asleep on the table in front of him.   
“Meeks?” Charlie whispered in a low voice.   
“Mm?” the freckled boy on his right replied.   
“Do you understand any of this shit?” he asked, resisting the urge to hit his head against his desk. The symbols and words entered twining themselves in white chalk dust into gibberish that only intellectuals could comprehend.   
Meeks kept his eyes focused on the new, expensive printed textbook in front of him. “Of course. Do you need help, Charlie?”  
Charlie huffed and rubbed his eyes in frustration. Why couldn’t life be simpler? Just like that summer I’d experienced.   
“Study group tonight?” Charlie said instead to Meeks and the boys surrounding them in Chemistry.   
Everyone mumbled a general yes with Neil offering to help, whereas Knox said otherwise.   
“Can’t tonight, have dinner with family friends. The Danberrys,” Knox grumbled. “They’re probably in their 90s with nothing better to do then gossip about exclusive high-end wine and other pretentious shit.” He rolled his eyes.   
“Your loss, man, but Chris said she had dinner at the Danberry's too, because of her meathead best friend, Chet,” Charlie replied half-heartedly. He didn’t care who Chris spent her time with, as long as she kept far, far away from him.  
Knox poked Charlie on the back with the rubber on his yellow pencil. “I get to meet the famous Chris who stole the heart of our boy, Charlie,” he teased.  
The boys smirked and nudged each other and continued teasing Charlie until Mr. Smith scolded them for chattering.  
Charlie sighed again. Chemistry was too difficult. Formulas and equations became a whirlwind of messy thoughts in his head. It didn’t help that Chris was asking to go on a date on Saturday night, despite Charlie being busy with schoolwork.   
Chris was frustrating and always occupied his time with little things which he saw no interest in doing. Going to a drive-in movie and holding hands, meeting each other’s friends… It was pointless! Charlie didn’t have much interest in Chris but he knew that there wasn’t much choice.   
The only things Charlie truly enjoyed was writing for the school paper, and anything to do with Ophelia. But he was never going to see Ophelia again so he may as well forget her.   
Placing his chin on his lightly fisted hand, Charlie began to daydream back to that moment where him and Ophelia went to a chapel, and how Charlie began kissing her in one of the corners and making endless jokes of how they were sinning and that they would catch fire from their ‘devilish deeds’.   
Charlie couldn’t stop the smile breaking out onto his face as he remembered how Ophelia retorted and said that she would gladly burn for him, that he was priceless. His heart melted at that sentence and he stole another tooth-achingly sweet kiss from her. Her lips were soft and tasted of caramel, as they had been walking through the markets earlier and being the gentleman he is, he bought her a caramel apple.   
The ringing of the bell snapped Charlie out of his memories to then hear the droning voice of Mr. Smith assigning more homework.   
“Finish chapters 5, 6, and 7 by the end of Wednesday. That means you too, Dalton! Don’t think I didn’t see you dozing off there with a stupid grin.”  
Charlie’s cheeks burned with a rosy tint as all the guys snickered and whispered that he was dreaming of Chris.   
Picking up his books he caught up to Meeks, Neil, Knox, Cameron and Pitts, as they strolled down the hall to the banquet for assembly.   
“So, what do you think this ‘mystery’ announcement is at assembly that Mr. Nolan is telling the school?” asked Todd quietly.   
Todd had always been incredibly anxious and shy, and Charlie felt a surge of pride and affection knowing that Todd finally felt comfortable with the group. He was glad Neil was there for Todd. To Charlie’s knowledge, Neil and Todd were the closest friends you would ever meet in your lifetime.   
“I hope he announces the debating championship!” gushed Cameron in his annoying voice.   
Charlie rolled his eyes and sarcastically retorted. “Gee, I sure do hope it’s about the debate team! I really do want to watch you stand on the stage and debate with other people like you!”   
The boys all snickered.  
“Imagine a female Cameron…” Knox added.  
With not-so-fake horror, Charlie clasped a hand to his chest and placed the back of his other hand on his forehead. “Oh lord, I feel sick just imagining that!”   
“You guys are such dicks,” seethed Cameron with furrowed brows. His face turned as red as his hair.  
Being the kind one, Neil lightened the situation. “They’re only messing with you, Cameron.”   
Honestly, Charlie hated Cameron with a passion. Cameron was always such a killjoy and he always said the dumbest crap. There was this one time when Charlie was talking about Ophelia and showed a polaroid of her curled up into a ball, with her head on his lap as she dozed off whilst they were having a picnic in a lavender field.   
Cameron had obliterated the beauty of the moment by smirking and snidely saying, “I’d definitely want to have sex with her.”   
With an audible groan, Charlie had placed the polaroid back into his blazer and refrained from saying what he felt about Cameron. The only thing that kept him from doing so was Neil and—bless his kind soul—but sometimes Charlie thought that Cameron deserved a punch in the mouth.   
Passing the threshold, the boys quickly fixed up their uniform, particularly Charlie who had a loose tie and had undone the top button. Walking to the back of the banquet, they sat in the second to last pew, so Mr. Nolan wouldn’t catch them chattering and discussing ‘the big announcement.’ Pillars and classical paintings adorned the banquet showing the tradition of the academy, and the amount of time put into Welton. Candlelight flickered on tall dark candle stands, flickering from the light breeze of an Autumn morning.   
“Ahem,” rasped Mr. Nolan. “Good morning, boys. As you all know, we at Welton Academy understand and respect years of tradition and we are having this gathering in order to announce an event.”   
After Mr. Nolan muttered ‘event’ the whole banquet hall burst into chatter as to what the event could be. Some even going as far as thinking it was a charity event, where the boys would be basket boys and sold off onto dates.   
“Silence!” Mr. Nolan said loudly, and through the newly obtained silence he continued. “Obviously, this event hasn’t happened in the past three years but is going to happen this year. We are going to host the annual ball with our sister school, Henley Academy. To prepare for this event we are going to have a taste test of ballroom dancing on Wednesday morning, with the young ladies from Henley Academy. This is a prestigious event, and any fraternizing or inappropriate behavior will result in consequences. You are dismissed, boys.”   
Mr. Nolan left the pew on the stage just as the room erupted in thrilled chatter. The boys filled with excitement and longing to finally see girls. Smirking, Charlie leaned back in his chair and nudged Knox.   
“Surely, we have to find you someone,” Charlie said with a chuckle. “You’ve been single for far too long, Knoxious.”   
“I don’t know, Charlie. There aren’t any girls I find alluring and it’s not like any girl would like me,” he mumbled with a visible frown.   
“Don’t worry man, I’m sure Chris has a friend that will catch your eye,” Charlie said in a more serious tone. He could see this topic really affected Knox, who was a hopeless romantic and longed for a girl to appreciate and make her feel special.   
Neil, hearing what was going on, joined the conversation. “I’m sure you will find someone, Knox, especially with that winner smile of yours, any girl would be lucky to have you!”   
At hearing the comforting words of his friends, Knox smiled and felt a sense of joy at his friends thinking he had potential. “Thanks, guys.”  
With the row in the pew in front of them standing up to leave, the boys followed suit and began walking off to lunch. To await their next class, Trigonometry.   
As Charlie began to slow down as the group continued pacing through the darkly lit corridors of the academy, veering towards the field to practice their football skills for the upcoming match, whilst Charlie thought about what Mr. Nolan said.   
Chris was going to be at the practice and with that he inwardly groaned. Nothing interesting or out of the ordinary was going to happen on Wednesday morning and he dreaded being hung off Chris’ arm like a trophy. She always liked making it apparent that he was hers, even though he never was and never will be.   
The candlelight made long shadows along the halls as Charlie continued questioning what he would do at the practice. Charlie knew that the practice would consist of Chris dragging him away from his friends and he began mentally preparing for that battle.   
However, what he didn’t know was who he was going to see at the practice.   
Not so much who, but so much as someone he used to know.


	2. Chapter 2

“SO, basically, he’s kind of short, has dark side swept brunette hair and has the most gorgeous brown eyes!” gushed the blonde bambi eyed girl. Her name was Chris, and she took the liberty of taking the sophisticated looking girl, Ophelia, under her wing and began making a companion out of her.  
Ophelia was new to Henley Academy, and with her looks and brains, she gained the interest of every girl quickly, most of those feeling a sense of envy for the girl. Chris saw a potential follower out of Ophelia and saw a way to strengthen her pre-existing ‘clique’, which consisted of ditzy Daisy, actress Autumn, Chris and now Ophelia.  
It was the first day of the second semester, which made everybody curious as to why someone would join the academy as late as Ophelia did. The reason was Ophelia’s mother. Ophelia’s mother was an architect and had a building she was requested to design in a Greek style, so her being the passionately driven woman she is, she planned a trip to Greece for a good chunk of the year to study the culture and the architecture of the country.  
This trip meant a lot to Ophelia’s mother and soon it meant a lot to Ophelia, as she met Charlie Dalton—a rich boy with a sense of rebellion and oozing with charisma. It was under funny circumstances how Ophelia and Charlie met.  
Ophelia had been pacing through the markets of Greece carrying a cool frappe under the scorching summer heat, her white blouse sticking to her back like a sticky taffy. Ophelia’s nose began to show the early signs of sunburn and was beginning to feel unpleasant. Walking from stall to stall, looking at miscellaneous, Ophelia’s mind occupied by the thoughts of ‘what should I buy?’ to which was the reason she then bumped into the back of a boy.  
The frappe spilt all over the front Ophelia’s pristine, well, now stained white shirt, whereas the boy she bumped into now had a splash mark of coffee stained on his snowy dress shirt.  
“Shit, shit, shit, I’m so, so, sorry,” rambled Ophelia in English as she bent down to retrieve the dropped frappe cup. Ophelia’s toes peeking out from her sandals now sticky from the sugary beverage.  
The boy finally spoke his first words. “It’s okay, I just didn’t expect it,” he responded with a crisp polite accent. He was American.  
Quickly popping back up from picking up her dropped frappe cup, Ophelia finally saw the boy’s face.  
“I’m really so-” her breath was stolen from her. The boy had semi short side swept dark brown hair, a long delicate nose and dark prisms for eyes. He was breathtaking. He truly was. His collar was undone by a single button and his eyebrows were scrunched in genuine concern.  
“I’m sorry, did you get hurt? Miss?”  
“O-Ophelia,” Ophelia managed to stutter out with a little cough at the end, to ‘smoothly’ cover her admiration for the boy.  
“I’m sorry Miss Ophelia, do you want me to buy you another frappe?” the boy asked smoothly. “Oh, forgive me, my name’s Charlie. Charlie Dalton.” Charlie couldn’t ignore the bundle of nerves he felt meeting the girl before him.  
It was obvious to any stranger overlooking them, the amount of nerves and admiration that was present on both sides of the spectrum. Charlie being anxious about making the wrong impression and Ophelia’s fear of Charlie now hating her for spilling a frappe all over his back. This, however, was the pivotal point in their relationship as this was how they first met and would forever be an inside joke between the two of them.  
Obviously, Ophelia felt a lot for Charlie and the end of summer really took a rough toll on her. Ophelia missed Charlie and dreaded the long pauses in between letters, which seemed to grow after each letter. Chris’ description of her boyfriend forced Ophelia into her own nostalgia of the summer of 1959 and in between the dialogue from Chris and her flashbacks she admired the surrounding campus of the Academy.  
Creams and beiges paints adorned the walls, with marble posts holding the ceilings surrounding the open dining hall. It somewhat replicated the nature of Greece and the same design. The weather was pleasant despite the light Autumn breeze, and the girls of Henley Academy had chosen to sit outside under the clouded sky. The whitewashed lighting from the lack of sun furthered the foreign feeling of the Academy and made the experience even more strange than it was for Ophelia.  
“So, do you have a boyfriend?” interrupted Autumn during Chris’s long description of her ‘immaculate’ boyfriend.  
Autumn, just like her name, was pleasant but could come across as cold at times. Her dainty nose was adorned with freckles. Long brunette hair framed her face, which she brushed away a stray piece of hair behind her ear with paint flecked fingers.  
“Uh, I don’t really- I don’t know how to describe it really,” Ophelia mumbled as she pondered on whether she and Charlie were ever a ‘thing’ or if it was all surface level.  
“What do you mean?” perked up Daisy out of her daydream, with a cup of coffee clasped in her hand.  
Daisy was different. She wasn’t like Autumn or Chris; she was constantly lost in the confinements of her mind and was always energetic. Daisy was dependent on coffee and from what Ophelia saw in the short period of that Monday morning, Daisy was inseparable from a paper cup of coffee. Daisy struggled to sleep from the constant stress of Henley, and this was further noticeable from the bags under her eyes.  
“Don’t interrogate the poor girl” Chris said with a grin. Daisy gave an unsatisfactory ‘humph’ and slumped her chin back onto her fisted hand.  
“I- well, I don’t know really, me and this guy kind of connected over my time in Greece during the summer and I really liked him, and he seemed to like me too. I just, he never responds to my letters as soon as he used to,” mumbled Ophelia with a slight frown. Charlie never really responded to her letters anymore and when he did, it seemed like he was only doing so out of guilt.  
“Well, he sounds like he-” began Autumn logically before being interrupted by Daisy, “-he sounds like a downright dick.” Narrowing her eyes, Autumn finished her sentence, “he sounds like he may be busy, but I’m sure he does care about you,” she finally finished with a reassuring smile.  
“From the perspective of a professional, if I do say so myself, I think he might be bored, or it just wasn’t meant to be,” perused Chris critically.  
“Yeah, perhaps,” mumbled Ophelia, now further confused as to how Charlie felt about her. She knew he was relatively rich and that he went to an Elite Academy, but even Ophelia who went to an Elite Academy too could send a letter back.  
“I wouldn’t think about it too much,” said Chris with a soft smile, “it’s not worth all your time, honey.”  
“Yeah, you’re right,” Ophelia said, but she felt otherwise. Picking at her food of a cream cheese salmon sandwich, Ophelia sifted through her thoughts and understood that what she and Charlie had was well gone and that there wasn’t much left to hang on in the relationship except the letters and what had happened in Greece.  
With this new revelation, Ophelia finally managed a genuine smile. 

“So, I heard from Janis that we’re apparently doing ballroom dancing with the boys this Wednesday, how exciting is that? You guys can finally meet some of the guys at Welton and snag a potential boyfriend,” squealed Chris obnoxiously.  
Chris was the talk of the school with her rich boyfriend who was known as a heartbreaker, to which Chris was oblivious to the whole ‘heartbreaking’ attribute of him.  
This could be a chance for Ophelia to finally move on from Charlie and find a boy she could have this time. Ophelia was sure that this time she would find someone matching for her. Perhaps Chris’ boyfriend had some friends that could possibly be of interest?  
Before Ophelia could ask this thought the bell rang, to which Chris quickly excused herself from the group as she was late to her biological studies test.  
The three girls, Ophelia, Daisy and Autumn, had Trigonometry together and succinctly trudged through the crisp breeze through the trimmed lawn of the courtyard.  
“Don’t mind Chris,” Autumn said. “Her and her boyfriend are just going through a rough patch and it’s taking a physical toll on her. She found out he cheated on her with someone during his summer trip and she’s wounded to say the least.”  
“Oh, she wasn’t bad at all, she was really helpful,” said Ophelia with a soft sympathetic smile. She felt bad for Chris. It would suck to be hurt by the one you love most and to find out they cheated on you with someone else.  
“How’d she find out about it?” Ophelia asked, gnawing at her lip. “I don’t mean to pry, of course.” Her books hugged tightly to her chest as she nervously glanced over at Autumn for her answer.  
Daisy, being Daisy, was lost in her own world of fantasies, which consisted of who was going to be her partner for ballroom dancing. Daisy thought Neil was quite cute and might be a perfect match, but she found Pitts quite dashing too.  
“Well, she stumbled across a letter in his room and she read a brief paragraph before he walked in on her reading it. He wasn’t happy about her finding it to say the least,” Autumn mused, obviously unimpressed by Chris’ boyfriend’s antics.  
“He seems like a dick,” Ophelia stated in a demeanor to lighten the situation.  
“Yeah, he can be.”  
The girls walked through the long pale corridors of the school, short heels clicking on the linoleum marble floors. 

Ophelia during this walk to Trig was anxious at the thought as to who she would do ballroom dancing practice with. Ophelia only been at school for a day and barely knew any of the boys, what if she wasn’t left last like she used to be at her old school? At this thought Ophelia gnawed at her lip further to the point of drawing blood.  
“Who would I dance with?” mumbled Ophelia, voicing the anxious thoughts that rebounded in the confines of her mind.  
“I’m sure you will find someone; perhaps even Neil Perry might dance with you. I heard he has a thing for Greek chicks,” Autumn said with a wink paired with a smirk  
Daisy spluttered and jokingly said that she wanted Neil all to herself.  
Light laughter flowed through the hall into the clouded expanse of the sky as girls tittered to and from classes.  
Ophelia felt content in her heart for the first time in weeks and walked with a lightened mindset into Trigonometry, ultimately oblivious to what surprise awaited her on Wednesday morning, and more specifically what would unfold from this encounter.


	3. Chapter 3

It was a warm Wednesday morning and Charlie felt a strong sense of dread towards the upcoming hour with Chris, which would be even worse by the fact that she would flaunt him to all her classmates. 

Mr Keating was discussing the beauty of a Shakespeare Sonnet which even in itself couldn’t stop Charlie from getting lost in his thoughts of the upcoming event. It didn’t help that Chris was also nagging him to coerce Neil into being the dance partner of one of her friends, who she said was called Ophelia. To Charlie this was somewhat humorous as for a brief second he believed that it might be his Ophelia from summer. But, with the luck Charlie had in his life, he doubted it. 

Glancing back to Mr Keating, Charlie started listening to what Mr Keating was teaching.

“Boys, we don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute, we read and write poetry because we are members of the human race and the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. The beauty of poetry is the way it can woo a woman!”

At this statement Charlie felt an idea slip into his mind. What if Charles bought tickets to meet with Ophelia somewhere? His parents wouldn’t need to know and Chris surely would believe any lie that came out of his rosy lips.  
Charlie began pondering on this idea, picking at it from every angle. What if Ophelia was fed up with him? What if his parents caught him?   
Meeting with Ophelia would be perfect—amazing—but the reality of the situation was bitter and Charlie just had to accept it.   
However, he found a more possible solution. What if he wrote her a poem? Mr Keating did say that poetry possessed the power to woo women, and Ophelia obviously loved poetry, so why not give it a try?   
Obviously this idea went against everything his father wanted from him; Charlie to be cooperative and be the picture perfect boyfriend for Chris, but he couldn’t stop the feeling that perhaps there was a chance he would see her again.   
At this revelation, Charlie raised his hand.   
“Yes, Mr Dalton?” said Mr Keating, not surprised by Charlie‘s participation in class.   
“How would one ‘woo’ a woman?” Charlie asked with a cocky smirk, furthering the allusion of his ‘confidence’. At this question all the boys in the class broke out in a chorus of oohs and ahs, with the expected whistle and comments about Chris.  
Charlie kept a smug smirk on his face although it wasn’t really how he felt; Charlie always put on a mask of confidence to keep others from prying into his life and finding out more than they really ought to know. Charlie has always done this and it was his defense mechanism from letting people get too close, but with Ophelia he let go of those boundaries and let her see him for who he truly was.   
“Well, to truly woo a woman you need to be writing a poem from the heart. Make her understand what she means to you,” Mr Keating answered with a soft smile. He had a feeling that the reason for Dalton’s zoning out in class after the summer session was a girl.   
The bell rang before Charlie could ask more about what to write in his poem to woo Ophelia.   
Charlie then realised that he had ballroom practice and with that his heart sunk.  
Time to face the music.   
“Come on, Charlie,” Neil said as he slapped Charlie light-heartedly on the back. Charlie quickly packed up his minimal amount of school supplies and caught up with the boys.   
“So, who’s Ophelia? You know, my dancing partner?” Neil asked.   
“Oh, she’s apparently a new student at Henley Academy and Chris says she’s really sweet and gorgeous, apparently. She thinks you guys will get along,” Charlie said doubtfully. He already knew Chris’s friends Daisy and Autumn, and Charlie didn’t trust Chris’s evaluation of the new chick. Daisy was an airhead and Autumn was ice cold. However, this was his opinion. Meeks seemed to really like Autumn and thought she was flawless.   
“On the topic of partners,” Charlie said mischievously, “how about we get Meeks with Autumn.”  
“I-I don’t know Charlie, she doesn’t seem to like me very much.” Meeks adjusted his glasses with anxious hands. Meeks didn’t think Autumn liked him. He didn’t think any girl liked him.  
“Since I don’t have a partner, Meeks can dance with me!” Knox suggested with a smirk, flinging his arm around Meek’s shoulder in brother-like camaraderie.   
“Obviously, Todd can go with Daisy since they seem to hit it off a lot,” Charlie said, glancing at Todd to see if he was okay with that. Charlie was pleased to see Todd smiling softly at the thought of seeing Daisy after such a long time.  
“And, Pitsie apparently has a girl his sister picked out for him.”   
“Yeah, she’s great.” Pitts smiled thinking about her.  
“What about me?” Cameron butted in.   
Groaning inwardly, Charlie had to be civil for the sake of not getting banned from the school ball.   
“I’m sure you will find someone, hopefully Chris can find someone so short of notice.” Charlie doubted that but there is always a Cameron in every school, even in a female form.  
Cameron nodded as the boys continued striding through the candlelit halls to the big hall at Welton Academy.   
The wooden floors of the grand hall were polished to an impossible shine to impress the sister school. Charlie wasn’t surprised that there were already boys and girls mingling in the hall, already on the lookout for partners.   
“Alright guys, let's find Chris,” Charlie mumbled, obviously not content with this plan.   
Nudging their way through the crowd, the boys began their pursuit for Chris. But just as Charlie got to the thick of the crowd, he locked eyes with the last person on Earth he expected to see again.   
Silver eyes greeted him back, luring him in again like they did during those days in Greece. Mascara lengthened her eyelashes to give her a more breathtaking look, which Charlie didn’t believe could be possible . She wore white crisp blouse new with age, paired with a dark black blazer and a crimson and black striped tie.  
Ophelia.   
Charlie‘s heart skipped at the sight of her. He missed the soft curve of her lips when she smiled, the crinkling of her eyes as she did so. Charlie saw the look on her face. Shock, realisation, then astonishment. Ophelia walked towards him. She was about to say something just as an arm wrapped stealthily around Charlie’s waist and he felt a Judas kiss being planted on his cheek.   
“Hey, babe,” Chris murmured lovingly.   
The sudden change in the situation dawned on Ophelia’s face as she realised what was happening. Just who Charlie was to Chris. What that meant.  
With heavy leaded dread, she understood that she was the other woman.   
The homewrecker.


	4. Chapter 4

Ophelia’s heart shattered in an instant.   
Charlie lied to her about not having someone, and she became the person she never wanted to be.   
Ophelia despised people who participated in cheating and now Ophelia was one of those people. Ophelia could feel the bile rising in her throat as she knew that if Chris ever found out it would break her heart.   
“Everything okay?” Chris chirped with a concerned tone laced in her voice. Chris had an arm wrapped around Charlie‘s waist, with Charlie having a stone cold expression on his face.   
This wasn’t the Charlie Ophelia knew and it ached to see him act so indifferent to her.   
“Yeah, sorry, just not a fan of big crowds.”   
Ophelia assessed the situation and saw that through the thick of the crowd there was a small group of boys approaching them.   
One of the boys with dark brown hair and a soft facial expression joined the cold glances that were being shared between Charlie and Ophelia.   
“Hey, Charlie,” the boy greeted cheerfully. “It’s good to see you again, Chris.”   
“Hey, Neil,” Chris replied with a soft smile. Neil was Chris’ favourite out of Charlie‘s gaggle of friends. Neil was by far the nicest and Chris felt like Neil was the most genuine in the group.   
“Hello, Autumn and Daisy,” Neil said, “And I assume you must be the famous Ophelia who I’m blessed to have as a partner?” Neil gave his winning smile as he stuck his hand out for Ophelia to take.   
“That’s me,” Ophelia said sheepishly. She could feel Charlie’s cold stare when she shook Neil’s hand.  
“These are my friends,” Neil said. He gestured to the group of boys walking towards them through the crowd.  
Charlie was evidently the leader of the rag-tag group. Ophelia saw a few nerdy boys and a boy with a very soft boyish look.  
“Knox Overstreet,” a sweet-looking boy said confidently. His lips tugged upwards into a small smile. Knox had this soft aura to him. His hair was lighter brown than Charlie’s, and he had a bump on his nose that elongated into a downturned tip.  
Ophelia found him cute—just like Neil. She wasn’t embarrassed to admit that she actually found all the boys cute in their own way. She was glad; she wanted a chance to move on from Charlie.  
Knox found all of the girls attractive but Ophelia stuck out the most to him; her silver hair stood out and her soft stance was inviting.  
“That’s Steven Meeks,” Autumn murmured to Ophelia, nodding towards a boy with curly auburn hair and freckles decorating his face.  
Meeks fidgeted with the large glasses that sat on the tip of his nose. “Hey, Autumn.” He adored Autumn, but her cold expressions made him fear that she hated him.  
Charlie noticed Meeks was struggling to continue. “Would you be Meeks’ partner, Autumn?” Charlie didn’t so much as glance at Ophelia, choosing to ignore her. I can’t see you, you can’t see me.  
Meeks breathed out a barely audible sigh of relief. Charlie always knew what to say and always helped him in moments like these.  
“Yeah, sure,” Autumn said offhandedly. “I’d love to.”   
Meeks’ heart fluttered at this statement, Autumn would love to dance with him. She’d love to. “Thank you,” he spluttered. He walked up to Autumn, doing his best not to stumble over his shoes, and they walked off to discuss who knows what.   
Neil took Autumn’s spot on Ophelia’s right, just as Daisy left Ophelia and started talking to a boy with a flat top haircut and thick eyebrows. Ophelia had a feeling that was Gerard Pitts, a boy Daisy couldn’t stop talking about and declared him as being the most interesting out of the group of boys.  
“I-I’m gonna follow her,” mumbled a boy with rosy cheeks whom Ophelia noticed didn’t say much.  
She assumed that this was Todd Anderson, Daisy’s best friend. From what she’d heard, Todd was incredibly reserved to those he wasn’t close to.  
Daisy and the two boys already began walking away. Ophelia faintly heard their conversation about the ballroom planning committee.  
Ophelia felt the tension hang over the group like a sopping wet blanket. Charlie was ignoring her completely and Chris constantly whispered in his ear. Charlie was smirking at whatever Chris was telling him.  
“So, how come you’ve come into the semester so late, Ophelia?” Neil asked.  
Knox stood on the other side of Ophelia, staring at her in awe. He thought she was the most beautiful girl he’d even seen and was anxious to speak in fear of scaring her away.  
“My mother is an architect and we spent the summer and the first semester in Greece appreciating the architecture, as she was requested to build a Greek-inspired house for a wealthy couple.”  
“Huh, Greece you say?” Neil said. Didn’t Charlie spend his summer in Greece too? Didn’t he meet a girl with a similar name?  
“Hey, Charlie, didn’t you also spend the Summer break in Greece?” Neil flicked his eyes from Ophelia to Charlie.  
Charlie clenched his jaw and responded tersely. “Yeah, my dad thought it would be good for me to get a change of venue and understand what I wanted.”  
“Thank God for that trip, Charlie came back from Greece and I swear he’s a different person! He quotes Shakespeare to me now and he has such a romantic flare to him,” Chris swooned.  
Ophelia cringed. Shakespeare was Ophelia’s favourite and she had a feeling that Charlie now quoted her favourite lines to Chris.  
What a jerk.   
“He read Sonnet 18 to me and it’s just…” Chris struggled for words.  
“Powerful in the way it shows how beauty is eternal?” Ophelia asked snarkily with a raised eyebrow.  
At this Charlie finally acknowledged Ophelia, which was a mistake as he saw the cold glance she rewarded him with. That hurt Charlie more than he let on.  
Charlie knew it was a dick move to read Ophelia’s favourite poems and novels to Chris; he knew how much they meant to Ophelia. He tried to believe that he could influence and mold Chris into being similar to Ophelia, but who was he kidding? Chris was nothing like Ophelia. Ophelia admired Classics and literature. Chris loathed them and would keep them at an arm’s length. Chris pretended to like them for the sake of Charlie, but she never quite saw the beauty in Shakespeare.   
Knox, oblivious to the rising tension, finally worked up the courage to ask Ophelia an important question. “So, um, do you have a boyfriend?” he blurted.  
“No. I don’t,” Ophelia said. She looked over at Neil to gauge his reaction.  
Neil, though, wasn’t paying attention to the awkward conversation. He was looking over at the other side of the ballroom, which buzzed with conversation as the students waited for Mr Nolan to announce the next course of action.  
When Todd noticed Neil staring at him, he felt a feeling he was accustomed to—that feeling of being jealous towards every girl that flirted with Neil. Neil would receive all this attention from every girl he met and would be utterly oblivious to it. It hurt Todd to see that every time there was a gathering with Henley Hall.   
“What about that boy you talked about on Monday, you know… the one you met in Greece?” Chris asked in confusion.  
At that, Charlie’s cold expression faltered, while Knox’s heart sunk in defeat. Knox knew there wasn’t any chance that a girl like Ophelia would be single, and even if she was, no girl with Ophelia’s looks would ever fall for a plain boy like him, especially not with Neil being in the same room as him.   
“Oh, yeah, him.” Ophelia wrinkled her nose and met Charlie’s stare. “I realized that he wasn’t the one for me and he was a jerk.”  
“He was, Ophelia.” Chris told the whole group about Ophelia sending letters to the boy and how he barely ever responded to them.  
Charlie felt the need to justify himself in the situation. “You can’t assume the boy is a jerk, I’m sure he had other obligations.”   
“True love doesn’t have any obligations,” Knox said, a soft smile aimed at Ophelia. He was going to win her over.   
“Yeah, if he really cared about me he would have sent a letter back.” Ophelia mimicked Charlie‘s cold expression with folded arms. “If he really did care, he wouldn’t have ignored me without telling me why.”  
Tension began to rise again. Cameron watched the exchange alongside Neil, and both boys began to put the pieces together. Neil’s eyes widened as he realized the severity of the situation.   
Ophelia. Ophelia. That name he had heard flow from Charlie‘s mouth as the boy had lovingly recounted his summer break and his experience with this girl he was head-over-heels for. Neil remembered the polaroid that Charlie showed him that one time of Ophelia loosely hanging her arm around the shoulder of the porcelain stone of a Greek statue of Aphrodite. Neil saw the way Charlie looked at that polaroid with a soft nostalgic smile, his facade melting in that brief moment, allowing Neil to see what that girl meant to him. That girl being the girl he met today. Ophelia.   
Cameron too realised this and opened his mouth to state so. He was halted by Mr Nolan coughing into the air that was filled with the flowing chatter of boys and girls mingling.   
“Boys, and girls from Henley Hall, welcome to the first Ballroom practice for the Ball of 1959. We hope that you all act accordingly this morning and that you will respect tradition and apply the four school values: Tradition, Honor, Discipline and Excellence. We are running on a set schedule so we better get started with assigning partners.” With this statement there were a few groans as the students had expected the privilege to be allowed to pick their own partners and not be assigned someone they didn’t want to dance with. However, this was explained further by Mr. Nolan, “However, there will be a switch in partners every five minutes to ensure that people of all ability will be able to help those that are less fortunate in ballroom dancing.”  
This sent a wave of anxiety through Charlie and Ophelia as it meant that they might be partners. At the same time, Knox felt joyful as this meant he had a golden opportunity to bond with the new girl, the girl he was desperate to impress.   
“We will choose partners once everyone has separated into two lines with one being only for the ladies and the other only for the boys.”  
Everyone began to weave through the bodies to the assigned side of the hall that they had to go to, Chris quickly pecked Charlie on the cheek before hooking her arm around Ophelia’s and dragging her to the female assigned line. Knox kept his eyes on Ophelia as Neil grabbed him by the cuff of his shirt and dragged him to the male line alongside Charlie, who was still upset about what had just happened.  
Charlie was desperate to justify himself but couldn’t because of Mr. Nolan’s statement and directions. He felt a mixture of emotions: anger, remorse, joy and great sadness. The look in Ophelia’s eyes held the answer to his question. They were never getting back together. He had wounded her beyond repair and there was no way to repair it given his circumstances.   
Boys and girls pushed in their respective lines desperate to be directly across the person they wanted to be partners with.  
Ophelia found herself to be directly across from Neil Perry.  
There was a wide clearing in the middle of the polished ballroom floor as Mr Nolan paced to the center of the room in his well-known slouched walk  
“The person that is across from you will be your partner for the first five minutes so don’t get your hopes up of being with that person for the whole session,” Mr. Nolan scorned, “we want everyone to have an equal experience and for everyone to become used to the art of ballroom dancing.”  
Mr Nolan paced around, just as Charlie rolled his eyes at the pretentious ideology behind ballroom dancing being an ‘art’.  
Mr. Nolan noticed Charlie‘s act of disrespect and felt his blood churn. He despised being degraded specifically by a boy who didn’t understand anything other than how to spend daddy’s fortune. “Mr Dalton obviously wants to demonstrate the practice as he seems to be well versed in this matter, considering he finds our progress to be boring.”  
At that, the room was filled with sly smirks at the idea of Charlie, Charlie Dalton leading the ballroom practice. That would be the highlight of some of the girls’ and boys’ dreams of revenge for Charlie whenever he had picked on them, especially Cameron who wanted nothing more than to see Charlie be ridiculed.   
Charlie stifled a comment he was tempted to say and simply apologized only for the reason that he couldn’t afford to be ridiculed in front of the girls and boys, specifically his friends and Ophelia.   
“Sorry, Sir.”  
Continuing his speech, Mr. Nolan proceeded to describe in excruciating detail the way the dance would continue and began, to Ophelia’s shock, to demonstrate on Ms. Kelly how to maneuver through the dance. The ordeal was somewhat shocking as no one expected Mr. Nolan to even have an inch of a flexible bone in his body to be able to lead a ballroom dance. His pudgy fingers rested on the curvaceous figure of Ms. Kelly who with her frizzy fro was a copycat of Mr. Nolan and only made Mr. Nolan seem better than he really was. Ms. Kelly’s long red lacquered talon of her left hand rested on Mr. Nolan’s shoulder whereas Mr. Nolan clasped his fingers in Ms. Kelly’s right hand.   
Charlie refrained from making a comment about it being a match made in heaven and at that thought he glanced at Ophelia wishing to know what she thought about the situation only to be greeted with her glancing at Neil with a softened expression. Charlie gritted his teeth at this scene and looked back at Mr. Nolan’s demonstration on Ms. Kelly and continued to try and ignore Ophelia’s existence in the ballroom.   
Meeks, just like Charlie, struggled to keep his emotions in check as Meeks kept glancing over at Autumn and being breathless at the amount of concentration the girl applied to the occasion. Meeks deemed himself lucky for actually getting Autumn to agree to be his partner for the beginning five minutes. Adjusting his glasses, Meeks quickly looked away. He missed how Autumn glanced over at him.  
Knox in this situation was also going terribly, he met the girl of his dreams today and she stood within his grasp from the other side of the hall. Knox had the sense that she might be interested in Neil and Neil also being interested in her, however, this wasn’t going to stop the boy as he hoped for her to be his partner for the next few minutes of the practice.   
“Please begin the start of the dance by getting into position.”  
The boys and girls began to meet their partners on the clearing and began getting into first position. Neil placed his left hand delicately on Opehia’s slim waist, whilst Ophelia mirrored this action placing her pink nailed hand on Neil’s left shoulder.  
Charlie, to the left of the duo, copied this action much to his dismay on Chris, who was delighted about the notion to say the least. She was oblivious about the tension between Charlie and Ophelia and the cold looks shared between the two.   
Meeks, like Chris, was delighted, as he’d gotten what he wanted; Autumn was Meeks’ ball partner. That meant more time Meeks could spend getting to know Autumn, who, to Meeks’ obliviousness, liked Meeks just as much as he liked her. Autumn’s reserved personality and icy exterior was shown to prove as an obstacle for Meeks’ confession of his feelings.  
Knox also was experiencing his own unrequited love, the glances he kept sending over to Ophelia proved to only be slightly successful as he danced with his partner whom he didn’t even know. She claimed her name was Amelia but he didn’t have much interest to say the least. Sadly the poor girl experienced excruciating pain in the form of Knox stepping on her fashionable heels as he kept getting distracted by his lustful glances at Ophelia and his endless thoughts about the girl. Ophelia was Knox’s muse, his reason for what he felt.  
On the other hand, Todd was experiencing what could only be described as emotional longing, as he saw the man he loved dance with another girl. Todd’s eyes stung at the thought that he could never openly express his affection for Neil without being crucified by society and being disowned by his very own parents. What confused Todd the most was the fact that it was wrong for him to love who he loved simply because they were the same gender. Why was that so wrong? With a heavy heart, Todd continued to slow dance with his partner whom he didn’t know and didn’t want to know.   
Pitts, content with his partner, continued to dance with Daisy as they slowly moved to and fro in the crowd of pairings. Daisy’s happiness was inexpressible. She was able to spend the next five minutes close to the boy she had a little, well, major crush on. Daisy asked simple questions of how his parents were, as they had been childhood friends way before Welton or Henley Academy encroached on their lives. Daisy knew Pitts as the chubby toddler who played trucks with her in the sand of the beach that was in their neighbourhood, as their mothers stood afar smoking organic cigarettes and discussing the gossip of the Elites.   
Cameron, the irritable boy, much to everyone’s surprise, had found a partner who was similar to him in mannerisms and was joked to be Cameron but the female version.  
“What are you thinking about?” Chris hummed to the distracted Charlie.  
He had been looking at Ophelia to only see her laugh at something Neil said. Charlie felt a wrench in his heart as he saw that image, an image he was familiar with. The way she let go of Neil’s hand briefly to cover her mouth partially as she giggled into the tips of her fingers.   
Glancing back at Chris, Charlie was greeted with the interested facial expression that Chris’ face held. Charlie knew how much Chris cared about him and in that moment he allowed himself to be loving to her. Not because he wanted to, but because he had to.   
“Nothing, babe,” Charlie assured her. He knew that Chris would be content with his simplistic and withholding answer.   
“What are your thoughts on Ophelia?”  
That shocked Charlie. He feared Chris knew what had happened between Ophelia and himself. “What do you mean?”  
“Like, do you think she would be a good friend? You know, like, for the friend group?”  
With a feeling of relief, Charlie despite himself, said his true opinion. “I think she’d be a great addition, she might thaw Autumn’s cold personality and actually make Daisy less ditzy. She seems sweet and I’m sure she would be a good friend to have.”   
Nodding, Chris took this into count and made the decision that Ophelia was the right addition to the friend group and that if Charlie liked her, then so would she. At this revelation, Charlie and Chris heard Ophelia’s soft well-known laugh as she and Neil snickered as something that was exchanged between the two, unbeknownst to all.  
Charlie gritted his teeth and ignored that and continued to pay attention to Chris just as Mr. Nolan’s nasally voice rang out through the hall telling the boys to switch partners and move to the right.   
Charlie was annoyed as he realised that the person he had to leave Chris and join was a girl with a short black bob, who was standing there awkwardly after Knox had moved on to Ophelia. Charlie felt a sense of dread as he realised that in ten minutes he’d have to dance with Ophelia.   
Knox took a deep breath as he placed his hand on Ophelia’s waist. Knox’s heart tremmered at the way she looked at him as he slightly towered over her. Her glance into his eyes made him feel like she knew him. Really knew him. Knox fought the urge to run away with her and just get to know her as they began the dance. Instead, Knox asked her questions and made polite conversation to break the ice.   
“So, what’s your favourite colour?” Knox asked with a fake serious tone to evoke a laugh from the girl, which he ended up achieving.   
Ophelia snickered at the incredulousness of the question. It was such a silly question given the circumstances and was so random but it felt somewhat...charming?   
“Beige,” Ophelia said.  
“What are you, 50?” Knox joked  
Ophelia playfully gasped and swatted his shoulder.  
“Careful there, Ophelia, you might dislocate my shoulder, and what would I do then?”   
“Sorry, I forgot you needed your shoulder to dance with other girls!” Ophelia apologized just as Knox denied this claim.  
“I don’t have any girls pining after me, so it wouldn’t be much of a loss,” he replied half-heartedly.  
This was shocking to Ophelia as she believed that Knox had suitors lining up just to spend time with him, after all he was attractive and he did have a sense of humour. Ophelia found a soft nature to him that she couldn’t find in Charlie anymore. Ophelia decided to test the waters and flirt back.  
“A guy like you? Surely you have someone who’s interested in you?” Ophelia bit the inside of her cheek.  
“Nope, nay, nada.”  
“I very much doubt that, Knox, I’m sure there’s someone who likes you, from what I can tell you’re adorable and quite charming,” Ophelia said. She could feel someone staring at her and glanced away from Knox and looked over to see Charlie coldly look at her only to avert his attention quickly to the girl in front of him. Ophelia felt a pang of jealousy at the way the girl, Amelia or something, was looking at Charlie with heavy lidded eyes and a lustful glance. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Ophelia glanced back at Knox.   
“What’s your favourite colour, Knox?” Ophelia mirrored his question hoping to get to know the boy more.   
“Yellow. Not like a highlighter yellow but a softer yellow, like a pastel yellow.”   
“Sounds about right,” Ophelia murmured. The colour directly reflected his personality.  
“You just seem like a vibrant and joyful person.” Ophelia continued. “Not that that’s a bad thing, truly it isn’t. I think that people who find happiness in the world are some of the best people to keep around as close as possible.”  
Knox glanced down at their feet and smirked with a blush present on his cheeks. “Are you saying you’d like to keep me around?”  
Mr Nolan demanded that everyone switch partners just as Ophelia was about to answer.  
Knox was forced to move partners and found out that Daisy was now his partner just as Ophelia quickly answered his question.  
“To answer your question, yes. Yes, I’d be delighted.”   
Knox smiled over at her just as he got into the starting position of the dance.   
With a loud groan, Charlie joined Ophelia.   
“Didn’t take long for you to find someone new,” he said, trying to get a reaction out of Ophelia.   
“I could say the same about you,” Ophelia said snidely. She felt her good mood evaporate to be replaced with the sensation of her blood beginning to boil at the thought of being accused of moving on so quickly, when she had spent so many sleepless nights writing him letters during her vacation.  
“What can I say? I got bored.” Charlie knew that what he was saying was going to lead to a conversation he didn’t want to have but he was in a destructive mood and he felt envious of Knox’s ability to talk to her, whereas he was chained to Chris.   
“I don’t know what I ever saw in you, Charlie Dalton. You’re nothing more than a sleazeball, who finds enjoyment in breaking girls’ hearts,” Ophelia snapped. She barely refrained from slapping him.  
Charlie smirked. “Are you saying I broke your heart?”  
“N-No, actually I never even cared about you,” Ophelia stuttered in the start of her sentence being the bad liar that she was, and she felt the way her lie barely hit it’s mark, it in fact only proved Charlie‘s point.   
“Wait, no, you still care for me, don’t you?” Regardless of how confident Charlie seemed, he secretly hoped that he was right. He just wanted her to still care for him just like he cared for her.   
Ophelia scoffed. “Care for you? God, I hate you, Charlie.” She screwed her face up in disgust. “I could never care for someone like you, in fact I regret I even met you.”   
Ophelia saw for a brief second the way her statement hit Charlie and Ophelia felt regret for what she said. She didn’t mean it for a second and to see that momentary pain flicker on his face wasn’t as satisfactory as she expected it to be.   
“The feeling’s mutual.”   
Ophelia hesitantly began to try and say that she didn’t mean what she said but before she could get past the first syllable of her apology, Mr. Nolan demanded that the boys switch for the last time.   
Charlie dropped Ophelia’s hand and without so much as a second glance, he moved to the next partner; the warmth of his hands disappearing with him, leaving Ophelia stunned and hurt. In his place was Cameron. Ophelia had heard tales, none good, about Cameron but Ophelia wished to make her own opinions on him.   
“Hey, Ophelia was it? The name’s Cameron,” Cameron greeted slyly. A plan had already formed in the back of his mind.  
“Hey,” Ophelia greeted half-heartedly, still upset about what had just happened between her and Charlie.   
“Get into the positions,” Mr. Nolan said, getting exhausted by the constant conversations of the students and wishing nothing more than to get to his office to smoke his usual fat cigar.   
“I found it kind of funny how someone who barely knows Charlie, has already managed to piss him off,” Cameron began.  
Cameron already understood that Ophelia was that Ophelia that Charlie met in Greece and that she was the girl in the polaroids. Cameron couldn’t help himself, he was too interested in what had happened between the two and wanted to stir the pot of drama.   
Narrowing her eyes, Ophelia replied, “I guess he’s just hard to impress.”  
“I wouldn’t say so in the slightest.”  
“Charlie is hard to impress and it’s obvious,” Ophelia stated factually.  
Cameron seeing his opportunity began to proceed even further, “You speak as though you know him, perhaps you got to meet him in Greece. Or even more than meet him, maybe you were involved romantically.” He sniggered.  
Ophelia felt a wave of emotion, but two things were clear, she was upset at Cameron for knowing about the situation and using it as a way to hurt Charlie, and rage. Ophelia had the icky feeling that Cameron had a sick reason behind his statement and questions, and that perhaps he was going to use this for leverage.   
“You have no reason to suspect that,” Ophelia said. She chewed on her lip as she tightened her grip on Cameron’s hand from the nerves.   
Cameron brought his lips close to Ophelia’s ear and she barely hid her flinch.  
“Charlie has a few polaroids and I did stumble across a rather pathetic letter. ‘I miss you like the stars miss the sun in the morning sky’ quite pathetic, really, even Charlie thought so.”  
Ophelia reeled away from the boy, her cheeks aflame just like her nerves. The audacity, the sheer audacity.   
“I doubt he even cared for you,” Cameron finished.  
Glancing at Charlie, Ophelia saw the first sign of concern on his face and that sent her sprinting out of the ballroom. Eyes were glued to her as she fled the ballroom with Neil following suit. Neil, having a feeling as to what happened from watching the scene from afar, felt sympathy for the poor girl and a sense of rage at Cameron.   
Charlie despite himself began to follow as well after a few seconds of hesitation, only to be stopped with the sight of Chris, Autumn, Daisy and unsurprisingly, Knox, going to comfort the girl.   
Charlie stayed in the ballroom as the others went to help Ophelia. In that moment Ophelia wished Charlie went to comfort her but was disappointed to see Neil, the girls and Knox come instead.   
If Charlie had gone at that moment, Ophelia would have broken down and confessed her feelings, but, alas, luck just wasn’t on their side.


	5. Chapter 5

Neil Perry sat in his dorm room with Todd, who had ignored him the whole evening.  
After the dance, Todd had made his way to the dorm room for the night and proceeded to ignore the other boy as he felt the need to avoid his emotions and he frankly was upset at Neil.  
Was Neil really that oblivious to all the attention he got from other girls? And did he really have to flirt back?  
Todd huffed and continued to read the novel splayed out on his lap. Without glancing up, Todd felt the bed creak and dip as Neil sat down at the foot of the bed.  
“Todd, is everything okay?” Neil asked  
Todd stared blankly down at the book in his lap.  
“If I did something, please tell me,” Neil pleaded. He could hear the desperation in his own voice. He wanted to find out what was wrong. He wanted to snuggle with Todd and comfort the poor boy’s nerves; he just wanted to be near Todd.   
Tears threatened to fill Neil’s eyes. “Please.”  
Todd scoffed and shut his novel with a sharp snap. He looked up at Neil and set his jaw. “You really don’t get it, do you?”   
“Get what?”  
“You just… you flirt with all these girls, and they all- they all flirt back to you, and it’s just so- it’s so stressful,” Todd said. His words were catching in his throat. Usually, Todd would have shut himself up, but he needed to speak.  
“No, I don’t,” Neil said defensively. His thick eyebrows scrunched together.  
“Yes! Yes, you do. Today was a good- a good example! You flirted with Ophelia without a single care in the- in the world! I- I was there!” He spoke quieter, “You didn’t even notice that I was there.”  
“I wasn’t flirting with her. I was being nice, that’s all,” Neil said. “I’m gay, Todd. I couldn’t like her even if I tried.”  
He sat next to Todd and placed his arm around Todd’s shoulder. Todd sighed and rested his head on Neil’s chest.  
“But you remember that girl Charlie met in Greece, the one he would never shut up about?” Neil asked.  
Todd nibbled his lip and slowly nodded his head.  
“Well, Charlie’s Greece Girl is Ophelia. You know, the one you’re jealous of,” Neil said.  
Todd ignored his last remark, too shocked at the previous information. He looked up at Neil with an incredulous expression, his eyes wide. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”  
Neil smiled solemnly and shook his head. “Afraid I’m not.”  
“But that- that makes everything so much worse. Wait, what about Chris? Wait, wait, Charlie cheated on Chris? Does- does Ophelia know she helped Charlie cheat?” Todd felt sick.  
“I don’t think so,” Neil said. “From what I saw today, Ophelia was surprised to see Chris and if anything there was a lot of tension as Ophelia seemed to be pissed at Charlie, rightfully so of course. Imagine meeting a guy to only find out he had a girlfriend all along.”   
Todd lay back down and rested the side of his face back onto Neil’s chest. “That would suck.” His voice was muffled because of his face buried in Neil’s shirt.  
Neil brought his hand up and softly rubbed circles on Todd’s shoulder blade. Neil loved the moments with just the two of them; nobody judged or looked at them strangely, and Neil could be as affectionate as possible. It was calming.  
“I’m sorry for any stress I caused you today, I’ll try to be more mindful,” Neil said. He just wanted Todd to be happy.  
“It’s okay, I forgive you,” Todd mumbled.  
His eyes closed and Todd dozed off in the comfort of Neil’s arms.

//

Charlie lit his cigarette and paced through the trimmed grass to the ancient oak tree that overlooked the Welton Academy’s lake, where the boys practiced swimming every morning. He rested his back against the trunk and placed the lighter back into his school trousers, where mud was already speckled on the front from his careless actions.  
He inhaled deeply and felt the nicotine spread through his lungs as that familiar burning sensation arose in his esophagus. He let his head hit the trunk and slowly exhaled the smoke through his parted lips. Lifting his hand, he took another drag of the cigarette as he began sifting through his thoughts.  
Ophelia. She was always on his mind, now more than ever after the ballroom practice this morning. Ophelia. The way she looked at Neil and Knox made his heart sink and his skin boil. Did she not care for him, when it was so evident that he cared for her so much?  
Charlie blew out a jet of smoke as he scoffed at the thought of Knox or Neil dating Ophelia. Ophelia was far from Neil’s type; Neil had never dated anyone to Charlie‘s knowledge and he was too busy with schoolwork to notice all the girls panting after him. With a thoughtful glance onto the shimmering lake side, where the afternoon’s sky was reflected, Charlie took another drag and almost laughed at the thought of Knox dating Ophelia. He didn’t think Ophelia was Knox’s type, and Knox was too shy to even present a poem in front of the class without stuttering. Although, it did seem like Knox was getting rather close with Ophelia, but Charlie doubted anything would grow from their brief interaction today.  
Charlie’s expression hardened and he stubbed the cigarette on the grass. Why does he care about Ophelia if he had Chris? He shouldn’t care in the slightest who Ophelia liked and who liked Ophelia. But he couldn’t help that nagging feeling that she would find someone in a brief amount of time. Charlie knew that the feeling of envy he’d experienced today towards the boys that were lucky to dance with her would only intensify if he saw her hugging, or, god forbid, kissing one of his friends.  
Charlie put an end to his thoughts as he stood up and brushed the seat of his pants, making his slow trek back to the study hall to practice for an upcoming English test the boys had. Although Keating was nice, he still set schoolwork for the boys that he expected them to finish by the due date. Charlie would be lying if he said that he didn’t think of Ophelia whilst he was in the study hall trying to practice his hand at writing essays, or even when he tossed and turned in his bed at the thought of whether she was okay and if he was the reason she burst out of the ballroom hall in tears. Charlie, however, would have his chance to ask Ophelia at the next dance.

//

Opening the creased page of her beloved book of poems, Ophelia sat in the cold Autumn evening on a frayed checkered blanket, on the inclining hill of a duck park. The pond just at the bottom of the hill filled with ducks bathing in the setting sun, as their glistening feather coats streamed through the long weeds and growth of the pond. With a soft sigh, Ophelia shut her book that rested on her thighs and felt the lump form in her throat.   
‘Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,  
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.’  
Shakespeare’s well-known phrases from his 116th Sonnet kept Ophelia thinking about whether there was any future for her and Charlie, or if she was meant to move on. Ophelia knew that if it was meant to be it would happen but she knew that she had to move on. What Charlie had said to her that morning in the ballroom hall left its lingering smudge on her heart. His words impacted her more than they have and she couldn’t believe that she didn’t mean anything to him. The lump in Ophelia’s throat grew as she felt a sob work its way through her throat. All those memories and hours spent together were now nothing more than mere memories to be forgotten and never again happen in real life. Those times Charlie would poke her teasingly or when he would anxiously hold her hand like a nervous kid on their first day of school were to be forgotten.  
Ophelia was oblivious to the sound of tire skids as Knox Overstreet quickly skidded his bike to a stop on the path at the top of the inclining hill. Knox was shocked to see Ophelia again today, especially while on his bike ride. The girl was nothing short of breathtaking as her back was to him and the sunset in front of her, sending rays streaming through her unique grey hair.   
Taking a deep breath, Knox snapped out of his shock and formed his first words after his last conversation with her, where he had comforted her while she’d cried.  
“Ophelia?” Knox asked, furrowing his brows.  
Ophelia turned around in surprise. Her eyes still glinted with tears. She was greeted with the image of Knox standing with his legs on each side of his bike. She quickly wiped her tears as she tried to hide the fact that she started crying.  
“Hey, is everything okay?” Knox asked. He dropped his bike and strode down the long flowered grass to lower himself next to Ophelia’s side.   
“Everything’s okay,” she whispered, quickly wiping her nose with the edge of her lilac cardigan, snot smearing the sleeve, and Knox would’ve been disgusted if this happened under different circumstances.   
“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m here, you can talk to me,” Knox said as he hugged her from the side and rubbed soothing circles on her left arm.  
Ophelia felt safe in Knox’s arms, mostly because he saw her sob hysterically during ballroom practice in front of a lake on the school grounds, and his opinion of her can’t get much lower. Tears kept streaming down Ophelia’s cheeks as she wept from the pain she felt; the pain of losing someone she loved dearly. She doubted anything would happen with Charlie and knew that the best thing was to give him up, he had a girlfriend after all.   
“I- I,” Ophelia stuttered. Then she sobbed.   
“It’s okay, we can just sit here and once you’re ready, I’ll be here and we can talk about it.” Knox knew that Ophelia would be far from ready to talk about what was on her mind and what had caused her to erupt earlier during ballroom practice.  
Ophelia rested the side of her cheek on Knox’s white shirt, dripping tears on it. Knox was struck by this action as he expected her to be repulsed by him like all the other girls he knew, and felt somewhat warm at the thought that Ophelia trusted him enough to cry next to him. Knox continued whispering soothing words as Ophelia began to slowly calm down enough to talk back to Knox.   
“Want to hear a funny story?” Knox asked, hoping to get a laugh from the distressed girl. Ophelia responded with a hum that was nearly inaudible through the fabric of his shirt. With a chuckle Knox continued to begin his story.  
“So, you know Cameron, right?” Ophelia nodded, as Knox continued with his story. “So, basically, sometime last year, Cameron fell off the row boat during rowing practice, God knows how, and got himself drenched. The whole time, he was yelling that he was gonna drown and that there were certainly sharks in the lake, and kept sobbing as he struggled to tread the water.” Knox laughed when he remembered the situation. Cameron was being an idiot and hitting his oars against Knox’s, and when he’d turned around to boss Knox around again, their boat had been hit by the other rowing boat. Cameron had toppled out of the boat and got drenched head to toe. Cameron was always furious at anyone who tried to retell this story.   
Ophelia hiccupped as she giggled with a hoarse voice. Knox smiled as he glanced down at the girl laughing in his arms. Knox was happy to see her smile. A book by her legs caught his eyes.   
“Is that Shakespeare’s Sonnets?” Knox asked. He grabbed the book with his right arm and slightly shifted Ophelia in his arms to have a better look.   
Ophelia looked up at Knox as she felt her heart skip a beat. Did Knox read poetry?   
“Yeah, he’s one of my favourite poets.” Ophelia said.  
“I love him too!” Knox exclaimed with wide eyes.  
“I never would have pegged you as a poem kind of guy,” Ophelia mused as Knox looked down at her with an incredulous expression.  
“What, why? Is it because I’m a guy?” Knox jokingly questioned.  
“No, no, you just seem so fancy and I just assume that you’re not a romantic kind of guy,” Ophelia said.   
“You’ve got me all wrong,” Knox chuckled, “I adore romantic stuff, like roses and writing poetry for girls. Just the beauty of romance and everything.”  
Ophelia felt her heart soften at the thought of Knox being romantic.   
“Here, I’ll show you, I’ll think of a poem right up on the spot for you.” Knox began to think about words that rhyme and would fit in the poem he was conjuring up in his head. Ophelia looked up expectantly and with an expression of wonder, and interest. Charlie didn’t know the basics of poetry but he was exceptional at memorising and reciting them to her at any given moment. Ophelia felt a tug at her heart as she remembered this, just as Knox began the start of his poem,   
“Roses are red,  
Violets are blue,  
I suck at writing poetry  
But I’ll try and write a pretty verse or two for you.   
Her gold complexion never dimm’d  
Even under the gloomy skie’s grin  
Her beauty never ending  
Her priceless smile is worth a billion.”   
He finished with an anxious smile as he expected her to be disgusted and push herself out of his arms, instead he was greeted with a soft smirk, as Ophelia detangled herself from his arms and giggled.  
“You find me pretty?” Ophelia asked with a mocking tone, however she was in awe to say the least. Here she was worrying about whether or not Charlie still liked her, and yet there was Knox who literally conjured up a poem on the spot for her.  
Knox crossed his long legs on the picnic blanket as he fumbled with his fingers. “Yeah, you’re kind of cute,” he huffed, with a goofy smile. “Maybe you would be even cuter if you didn’t make so much fun of me.”  
Ophelia howled with laughter, and all the horrible thoughts she had before Knox left her mind. She playfully punched Knox’s arm, as she shook her head and scrunched her nose in fake disgust. “No wonder I scare off every guy, they’re afraid of my teasing!”  
“It’s very repulsive,” Knox continued to tease. “It’s so repulsive that even Cameron himself is repulsed!”  
Ophelia pretended to gag at this remark as stated with her nose high in the air, “I don’t think Cameron would find even the Queen good enough for him.”  
Knox snorted. He could imagine Cameron rejecting the Queen.  
“I think we should get going,” Ophelia stated as she looked at the setting sun, as the sky was already beginning to darken.  
“Yeah,” Knox agreed sadly.  
“You know what?”  
“What?”   
“How about we meet again tomorrow after school and we do this again. Like, we can sit and read poetry under the setting sun?” Ophelia excitedly suggested.   
Knox agreed without a moment’s hesitation and Ophelia beamed. She felt excited and nervous to see Knox again. At that moment, Charlie was far from her mind thanks to Knox, and the boy barely had any clue how much he was helping her.   
Knox stood up and brushed the front of his black joggers, as he held out a calloused hand to Ophelia. Ophelia quickly took his hand as he pulled her up with a bit too much force, causing her to collide with the front of his chest. She stopped short of his lips as her face was mere centimeters from his. At that moment she was tempted to kiss the boy before her. Knox had this soft demeanor that she craved and it took everything in her will power to drop her gaze and quickly pick her book and picnic blanket. Knox scratched the back of his head as he watched Ophelia pick up her book and blanket, as the boy scolded himself for not quickly pecking her lips. If only he was more like Charlie.  
Ophelia tucked the blanket under her arm and held the aged paperback in her hands, as she weaved an arm through Knox’s in an attempt to keep the mood light. “I feel like we’re best friends already!” Ophelia said happily as they trekked up the hill to the pavement.   
“Yeah, we just might be,” Knox smiled at the girl by his side.   
Maybe this year would be what Knox and Ophelia needed.


	6. Chapter 6

“Someone’s in love,” teased Daisy. She watched her dorm buddy Ophelia enter the room with flushed cheeks and a bundled up picnic blanket in her hands. Ophelia looked dazed and responded with a vacant hum. Daisy sprawled on her bed and rested her chin on her fist as she watched in amusement. “I said, someone’s in love.” She wondered what—or who—had left Ophelia in such a state. “Was it dear ol’ Neil Perry, did he give you a big kiss?”  
“No!” Ophelia said. Her burning cheeks gave her away. “It wasn’t Neil. It wasn’t anyone!” She stuffed the blanket into the clothing box at the foot of her single bed.  
“Oh, that was very convincing, Ophelia. If it wasn’t Neil then who was it? I promise I won’t tease you. Well, no more than I already have.” Daisy had a ridiculous look on her face as she tried to look as innocent as possible and not snicker.  
Ophelia gnawed at her bottom lip. She sat on Daisy’s bed and wrung her hands. “It was Knox,” she admitted quietly.  
“Knox? What? When? How?” Daisy shouted, right in Ophelia’s ear.  
“Keep it down,” she hissed, clamping Daisy’s mouth with her hand. “The whole floor will hear you!”   
Daisy mumbled nonsense behind Ophelia’s hand before tugging it away. “How in Heaven's name did you have the time to meet Knox? You guys barely spoke in the ball practice! Not that you should be ashamed. He is a catch, if I do say so myself.” Daisy teasingly winked.  
Ophelia had a huge grin on her face as she told Daisy what had happened that afternoon at the park.  
Daisy’s eyes got wider and wider. “You’re telling me, after all that, you guys didn’t even kiss? What are you, brain dead?” Daisy tsked as she playfully nudged Ophelia.  
“I just don’t know him that well and it didn’t feel like it would be the right moment, you know?” Ophelia said. She tried to convince herself that she did the right thing even though a tiny part of her told her she should have kissed him. It might have just been the heartache speaking but for some reason it felt like she was moving on from Charlie. Maybe Knox was just who she needed in her life.   
Daisy sat up to face Ophelia. “I can see those wheels churning in your head! You wished you kissed him, don’t you? You should have kissed him, you silly goose! Tell me you’re meeting him again!” Ophelia shrugged, and her cheeks burned again. “Well, we were going to meet tomorrow after school to read poetry together in the park-”  
Daisy cut her off by shaking Ophelia’s shoulders and squealing. “Ophelia and Knox! Oh my god, oh my god! We’re going to have another couple, holy shit!”  
“Keep it down,” Ophelia said.  
Someone knocked on the door and Daisy hollered at them to come in.  
Autumn made her way into the room. She was already in her pyjamas and her hair was in a messy bun. “Is someone getting murdered in here again or did Daisy consume a litre of coffee?” She tapped Daisy on the head with her pen. “I was busy studying and heard the commotion from my room down the hall. You’re lucky everyone else is studying in the common room.”  
She joined the other girls on the bed and glanced at Ophelia with a raised eyebrow. “Knox, was it? Call me blind because I thought you were going for Neil.”  
Ophelia grinned again and told Autumn about her afternoon with Knox.  
Autumn leaned against the wall and whistled in surprise. “Impressive. Only your third day here and you managed to make all the boys fall head-over-heels for you,” she teased. “I can’t wait to take all the credit for yours and Knox’s relationship.  
“We’re not dating! We’re just friends,” Ophelia protested.  
Daisy slung an arm around her shoulders and snickered. “Friends.” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.  
Ophelia blushed some more and stared at her hands.  
“I think it would be a good relationship,” Autumn said off-handedly. “Knox is sweet and it sure would be less toxic than Charlie and Chris. They were arguing after the ball.”  
“They were arguing?” Ophelia echoed in surprise.  
“Yeah, Daisy and I found them arguing near the lake on Welton school grounds. It was about how Charlie was trying to blow off their Saturday plans and Chris was worried that he was going to see someone else. They eventually resolved the issue by deciding that Charlie and his band of boys would go to a party on Saturday and that Chris should invite us along. Knox will be there,” Autumn smirked at Ophelia. “Anyway, I need to get to bed after I finish this boring page of Math equations. Night, girls.” She left the room before Daisy or Ophelia could reply.  
“We should be getting into bed too, Ophelia. I’ll wait for you to get ready before I turn off the lights.” Daisy smiled at her as Ophelia got up and headed towards the shower rooms.   
Ophelia couldn’t help but think about Charlie and what Autumn had revealed to her as she stared into her reflection. She noticed that she had toothpaste foam smeared around the sides of her mouth. Her mind was elsewhere while she brushed her teeth; she thought about what she knew and felt responsible for how Chris’s relationship was going.  
From this moment on, Ophelia would avoid Charlie at all costs. After all, she had Knox now.   
Ophelia entered her dorm room as she saw Daisy already lying in her bed with a romance book pushed up against her nose. Ophelia flicked the light off and giggled when she heard Daisy groan and throw the book to the side.  
Ophelia was close to falling asleep when Daisy said, “Do you think me and Gerard could ever work out?”  
It took a few seconds for Ophelia to remember that Pitts in fact did have a first name, and Daisy was the only one who used it.  
“Yeah, I think so.” Ophelia spoke into the darkness of the room and felt like she was talking to herself. “Just give it time.”  
“Thanks, Ophelia.” Daisy said. “Goodnight.”  
“Goodnight, Daisy.”   
Ophelia turned over on her side to face the cold wall as she embraced sleep. For once, her dreams weren’t plagued with thoughts of Charlie.   
//  
“She’s perfect, I’m telling you, Neil! The way she smiles and- and just everything about her!”  
Knox was still rambling on about Ophelia. He’d gone on for so long that Neil had almost finished all of his chemistry homework.  
“I’m happy for you, Knox, but are you sure she likes you as much as you like her?” Neil asked awkwardly. He knew that Knox could fall head over heels for girls and that the last thing he wanted to see was Knox get hurt.  
“Yeah, of course! We’re hanging out tonight! Trust me, I won’t get hurt. This won’t be like what happened with Amelia.”  
Amelia had been Knox’s girlfriend for a while but he found out that she was simply using him to get closer to Charlie. To put it simply, the betrayal had hurt Knox a lot. He’d really cared about Amelia (even though all the boys in the group hated her) and he still carried insecurities after what had happened. Knox hadn’t lost much except his first kiss to Amelia and it sucked because he wished he had given it to someone special. Like Ophelia. Knox knew he couldn’t rewrite the past but he had a good feeling about Ophelia and he knew that this time it would all be worthwhile.   
The boys were sitting in the common room as it was only just them. They all huddled around a big table for a study session, which ended up with everyone listening to Knox gush over Ophelia. Charlie had left the room to grab his forgotten Chemistry textbook just as Knox started on about Ophelia.  
“She’s just perfect, you guys!” Knox continued, absolutely smitten.  
He was ignorant to the doubtful looks on Neil and Todd’s faces, who both knew more than they let on. All the other boys hyped Knox up and agreed that Ophelia and Knox would be a power couple.  
Meeks glanced up from his almost-completed Chemistry work. “You got this, Knox.” he said.  
Though he was good at his studies, Meeks wasn’t as good as Neil, who constantly powered through and overworked himself out of fear of disappointing his dad.  
“Yeah, you’ve got a good chance,” Pitts agreed.  
Knox felt his confidence begin to rise before Cameron quickly cut him down. “I don’t think she’d be interested in you, Knox. So instead of chasing after an unattainable girl, you should focus on your studies. God knows you need to!”  
A flash of fury roared through Knox.  
“And you should focus on yourself, Cameron,” Pitts snapped. “No one asked.”  
There was a chorus of agreement from the other guys.  
Cameron sneered. “Jesus, I was only trying to help.”  
“Well, I don’t need you help, Cameron. She may be way out of my league but I know she’s worth it.”  
Charlie leaned on the common room door frame. “Who’s worth it?” He’d only heard a snippet of the conversation and was already intrigued. Knox was always going after girls and he hoped that he would find someone who appreciated Knox the way he deserves.   
Neil and Todd looked at each other with wide eyes. Todd clasped Neil’s hand under the table and squeezed it anxiously.   
“No one,” Neil said. He quickly changed the topic. “Guys, have you finished the chemistry work yet?”  
Charlie raised his eyebrows, but didn’t push the subject and instead fell onto the chair next to Meeks.  
“Not everyone is as brainy as you, Neil,” Charlie teased. He threw his Chemistry textbook onto the table and groaned. “I’ll definitely need help with that.”  
Meeks had been awfully quiet on the topic of girls. So quiet that it had become blatantly obvious to the group that he was hiding something.  
“Meeks was awfully friendly with Autumn today.” Pitts wiggled his eyebrows at the flustered boy.  
“I- It was nothing!” Meeks stammered. He buried his face in his textbook and pretended to concentrate. It fooled no one.  
“Will you finally ask her out, Meeks?” Charlie said. “Just kiss her on Saturday during the party at Chet’s. It’s not difficult. I used to…” He trailed off. He had a girlfriend now. He shouldn’t talk about his past girlfriends or crushes. He had Chris.  
“I can’t,” Meeks protested. “She’s way out of my league! She’s on some whole other level! It’s just stupid.”   
“Don’t say something’s stupid without trying it out,” Todd mumbled through the shouts and encouraging words being tossed around the boys.   
“I just can’t, okay? Just drop it,” Meeks said.  
They dropped it.  
“Knox should invite his mystery girl,” Charlie joked with his usual smirk.   
“Yeah, I think I will. I mean, I am seeing her again in an hour,” Knox said. He had a soft smile on his face.  
“Is our little Knox finally in love?” Charlie snickered. “He’s all grown up!”  
Knox closed his book with a snap. “Anyway, on that topic I gotta go and meet my future girlfriend. See you guys later!” The boys whooped and clapped as Knox left the common room. Charlie wolf-whistled.  
Charlie was interested in who Knox’s mystery girl is and he had a brief fright that it might be Ophelia but he knew that Knox would never go for her. He knew Knox wasn’t her type. However, he still couldn’t get that idea out of his head. Knox and Ophelia. That wasn’t right.  
But he needn’t worry. He’d find out who Knox’s mystery girl is on Saturday.  
//  
“No no no, you put it under your chin- here let me do it.” Ophelia giggled as she placed the buttercup flower under Knox’s chin. “If yellow light reflects onto your throat then you like butter!”   
“That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard,” Knox said. He clasped his hands on his crossed legs as he sat in front of Ophelia.  
The sun was beginning to set, creating a picturesque atmosphere as light danced and weaved on Ophelia’s eyelashes. She was close to Knox as she glanced under his chin to see if there was a yellow reflection and to be greeted with what she was looking for.  
“A-ha! You do like butter!” Ophelia said with a toothy grin.   
“Yeah...I guess I do.” Knox said vacantly as he stared at her eyes. Knox and Ophelia were too close to be ‘just friends’ which was stopped as Ophelia quickly moved to the side to pick up her notepad.   
She coughed to break the tension and tucked her hair behind her ear.  
“You were going to teach me how to write poems, Knox?”   
“Oh, um, yeah.” He smiled, despite the feeling of disappointment he had. He’d had a chance to kiss Ophelia, everything was perfect! But he had chickened out. The space had grown between them and it was noticeable to both of them.   
“There isn’t really a process. It’s just cramming words that mean something to you onto a page. It’s about finding a muse or something that makes you passionate.” He stared at Ophelia in thought. “Like, for example: Her eyes were pools of liquid mercury, no man would ever leave her in a hurry. They can be random, it’s as long as those words mean someone to you and you can’t grade poetry as Mr. Keating says.”   
Ophelia gnawed at her lip as she picked up the pen and memorised Knox’s face. The setting sun made his eyes orbs of liquid honey as his lashes glowed from the light. His lashes almost brushed his undereyes as he looked down at her notepad.   
“Lashes of spun gold, eyes made of molten honey, he was pricier than man-made money,” Ophelia wrote with the ink pen she had brung along with her, the words smudging a little because of her cursed quirk of being left-handed. Ophelia silently passed over the notepad to Knox as she waited for him to scan over what she wrote.   
Her heart hammered in her chest like the last string of a guitar, reverberating throughout her chest. Ophelia swallowed the lump within her throat as she saw Knox’s eyes widen. “Wow, I- just wow,” Knox stammered as he brought a hand to scratch the back of his head. “This is something else! Shit, Ophelia, you’re really good.”   
“Thanks,” Ophelia said. She fiddled with her clammy fingers. To say she was shocked was an understatement as Knox placed a hand on her shoulder.  
“I mean it. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.”  
Without any warning, Ophelia wrapped her arms around Knox and gave him a tight hug. “Thank you, Knox, for everything.”  
Knox sat still for a second from shock before reciprocating the gesture and wrapped his long arms around her. He rubbed circles on her back as he said that it was the least he could do.   
They sat like that for what felt like eternity before Knox cleared his throat. “We should get going. It’s starting to get dark.” He wasn’t wrong. The sky was now laced with black and it looked like black treacle as stars began to peer throughout the sky.   
Ophelia stared at the dark sky. “You’re right.”  
“Here I’ll help you up.” He stood up as he brushed the back of his pants before reaching out a hand for Ophelia. “Trust me,” he joked as he saw her hesitant glance.  
She reached out her hand and he hoisted her up off the ground.   
“See, you’re still alive.” Knox grinned as he affectionately rubbed her hair. Ophelia swatted his hand away to pat her hair down.  
“Jer.” She playfully shoved him.  
They walked up the hill that they had vacated the previous day as Knox boldly wrapped his arm around her. “Gotta make sure you don’t get lost, y’know.”  
She smiled back at him and snuggled closer as they made their way back to the neighbourhood that was the residence for both of their schools.  
Saturday was the day; the day Knox would make a move. He just knew it.


End file.
